By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Time is running out for the Sununu Youth Services Center (YDC) survivors of abuse to file claims with the state’s YDC Settlement Fund as the money to pay settlements is running out.
The YDC fund is accepting claims until June 30 and the number of people seeking settlements through the fund process has steadily been increasing, according to John Broderick, the fund administrator and retired Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
“The first three months of that first year (2023 Q1) we received just 38 claims. Two years later, 261 claims were filed in a single quarter,” Broderick wrote in his quarterly letter to Gov. Kelly Ayotte and legislative leaders. “I expect another busy quarter before the June 30, 2025, deadline for filing claims arrives.”
Since it became operational, the YDC fund has received 1,135 claims from men and women who were sexually and physically abused by state employees when they were incarcerated as children. Of those claims, 296 have been settled, leaving 808 pending cases. But the money is running out along with the calendar.
When it was created by the legislature in 2022, the fund received $100 million to pay out to the victims of childhood rapes and beatings. The fund was voted an additional $75 million in 2024 due to the fact it was running out of money well before the 2025 cut-off. But only $60 million of the 2024 appropriation was given to the fund, and it is unclear if the state will make good on the remaining $15 million, or the $25 million owed for 2025.
Without the state making good on the additional funds approved by the legislature, there is a real prospect the money will run out before the June 30 deadline.
“We remain hopeful we will receive it. If not, we will do all we are able, in consultation with the AGO, until appropriated funds are exhausted,” Broderick said.
As it stands as of this week, the fund has paid out $156,343,215 to 296 survivors. By that accounting, there’s a little more than $6.6 million left for the pending 808 claims. However, as the fund is paying some survivors over time, three to 10 years depending on the settlement, the total for the 296 survivors is already more than $160 million.
Attorney General John Formella criticized Broderick for the way he’s paid out settlements. The YDC settlement amounts range from $500,000 to $2.5 million per claimant, depending on the nature of the abuse.
Without the settlement fund, the state faces the prospect of much more costly litigation. The first and only, so far, YDC civil trial resulted in $38 million in damages awarded by the jury for the victim, David Meehan. As the state is contesting that amount, Formella’s office recently settled with survivor Michael Gilpatrick for $10 million. Gilpatrick’s settlement still needs to be approved by the legislature.
If the settlement fund stopped paying out, New Hampshire could be forced to pay out hundreds of victims in civil damages at the same level as Gilpatrick and Meehan in court cases. All of those damages will be paid by taxpayers, ultimately, since New Hampshire does not have an insurance policy to cover the decades of abuse.